Deception (Deamhan Chronicles Book 3)

by Morrison, Isaiyan

  “How are you doing? How are you feeling? Are you alright? Do you need anything?” Hallie bombarded him with enough questions and, in response, Nathan laughed.

  “I feel great. I’m fine.” He squeezed her tightly then released her. “But you all need to sleep. It’s day.”

  She nodded like an obedient child and climbed the stairs again.

  Turning his attention to their new environment, he became mesmerized. He picked up his suitcase and walked down the hall, passing Alexis’ cubby hole on the way.

  Enlai rubbed his hands together and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something to Anastasia. Instead, his thoughts echoed in her brain.

  You gave him vampire blood, didn’t you?

  When Hallie reached the top, she looked down the hallway. “Hey, Enlai. Come check this out.” He nodded to her and climbed the stairs.

  Anastasia ignored his accusation and followed Nathan, who stopped at a tall wooden door that creaked when he opened it. She looked over his shoulder, gazing at a medium-sized room. Again, the air smelled stagnant. A small bed sat near the wall next to a desk.

  “This will do.” He walked in.

  “It’s small. Are you sure?”

  He placed his suitcase on the floor. “I don’t need a huge room.”

  “We brought as many of your things as we could pack.” She stood in the doorway, staring at his back while his eyes remained fixated on the wall. “As for the piece of the Dark Curse...” Her voice trailed off. “You never told us where you hid it.”

  “It’s safe. No one will be able to find it.” There wasn’t any emotion in his reply; nothing that’d make her notice if he suspected that his sudden recovery was due to vampire blood.

  “Lambert promised us a doctor, but he called a veterinarian instead.”

  Nathan laughed quietly. “I don’t need a veterinarian.” He sat on the bed. “And apparently, I no longer need a doctor.”

  One thing she did understand about vampire blood was that its effects waned after a period of time. Soon his disease, whatever it was, would return and he’d need more. “You should also get some rest.”

  “I’ve rested enough.” He looked over his shoulder.

  “I understand.” She turned to leave but stopped as he spoke again.

  “How did Lambert convince you to leave the sanctuary instead of leaving the state? Did he find a solution?”

  “This is only temporary.” She swiped her fingers through her dark hair. “Once I feel that things are safer for you, I’ll leave.”

  “Did he have any idea when we could go back?”

  She shook her head.

  “Blind Bluff Manor is my home. I’m not going to abandon it.”

  “We aren’t abandoning it.”

  “It’s good you think the same way as well because I’m heading back, tonight.”

  “Tonight?” She eyed him. “Do you think that’s wise?”

  “Probably not.”

  “At least wait a few nights until you know it’s safe.”

  He breathed out. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living with Deamhan is that the world we live in is never safe.”

  She turned her attention back to his suitcase and opened it. “Sleep on it.” She began to unpack, grabbing handfuls of clothing. Nathan watched as she moved back and forth to a closet near the back of the room like a wild woman in haste. “We packed every journal we could find, including the Journals of Blank Pages. They’re still packed in boxes near the front door. But everything you need is here. There’s no reason to go back, yet.”

  “Not everything. My home is more than just journals and books. It’s memories.”

  Anastasia didn’t know how to reply. She began to think that the vampire blood had one other property that she didn’t know about. It made affected humans over-think their situations.

  He stared at his hands. “This isn’t right.” He then folded his arms across his chest. “None of this is right.”

  “What isn’t right?” She continued to unpack.

  “How I feel. Something isn’t right. Did you...” He stood to his feet. “Is this vampire blood?” His eyes filled with hurt as if the idea alone had mentally damaged him.

  She stopped unpacking.

  “Did Lambert give me his blood?” he asked in a raised voice and turned to face her.

  “No one gave you any vampire blood.” She quickly snapped her head in his direction and her long dark hair gently slapped the side of her face. “You healed on your own.”

  “Do you think I’m that naive?”

  “No, but it’s obvious that you’re tired.” Deep within her, she felt ashamed. It was a sensation that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. “You should rest.” She dropped his clothing, letting it fall to the floor.

  “No. This is vampire blood. This is what it does to humans.” Still shocked, his eyes moved from his hands and back to her. “I told him I would never drink it. He knows that.”

  “We all know that.” She headed for the door.

  “Then why did he do it? Did you do it?”

  She grasped onto the doorknob. “I wanted to, but Lambert told me that it wasn’t what you wanted. Now get some rest.” She closed the door, leaving him alone.

  Taking slow steps, she made her way back to the front, watching as the humans continued to bring in more boxes from the truck. The sunlight stung her eyes and she maneuvered herself through the dark to make it back to the main room.

  She walked in and closed the door, thinking she was alone. However, Enlai’s nauseating scent hit her nostrils, taking her by surprise.

  “How did you do it?” he asked.

  Anastasia removed a white sheet, revealing a black leather couch. A small cloud of dust blinded her for a brief moment. She then sat and crossed her legs.

  “How did you give it to him?” He also removed a white sheet, revealing a large and polished square table. “Inject it? Did you put it in his drink?”

  “I didn’t give him anything.” All she could smell was sunlight. Her body, in need of rest, began to ache.

  “Someone gave it to him.” He draped the sheet over his body and he crawled underneath the table.

  “Why do you care? He isn’t your responsibility.”

  “I’m just curious.”

  She closed her eyes and ignored him, letting her body shut down before losing herself in slumber.

  1

  DECEPTION. DEAMHAN CHRONCILES #3

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Decayed and rotted flesh clung to the bottom of her bare feet. A wall made of human bones encompassed her. She heard screams in the distance among a fiery inferno, brightening the darkened sky in an orange hue.

  Petrified citizens ran wild in the streets, some screaming at the top of their lungs. A family ran by and Anastasia watched in horror as they were cut down by Deamhan with bright, glowing red eyes. The eyes only a Pure One had.

  Throughout her existence, she thought she’d seen the worst of her kind, but nothing prepared her for what she witnessed. It was enough to make her cover her mouth in sheer horror.

  On her right, a store made out of mud bricks and stones collapsed, followed by a cloud of brown smoke. On her left, the fire raged in a corral, burning off the flesh of horses and pigs. Unable to escape, the animals ran uncontrolled in their confined space, crashing into the unstable wooden structure.

  In the middle of all this chaos, Amenirdis sat on the floor in a pool of heated blood, cradling a bundle to her chest. Anastasia carefully walked around her, to get a closer look. The Pure One lifted her head, revealing her wavering red eyes filled with tears.

  Deamhan can’t cry. Yet here she saw that wasn’t true. Amenirdis, the strong Ekimmu, cried at the pandemonium around her while her brethren—the other seven Pure Ones—continued to ransack the humans they were created to protect. Her upper body rocked back and forth and she pulled down the top portion of her dress, revealing her naked right breast. After removing the cloth from around
her bundle, she gently positioned the baby toward her nipple.

  “What is this?” Anastasia questioned out loud but, unlike her previous dreams, Amenirdis didn’t answer her. She didn’t understand the chaos all around her. Why was the Ekimmu trying to save the human baby? Deamhan had no nourishment to provide.

  But it suddenly struck her and the realization made her topple back in fear. The baby belonged to her! It was her own blood-related offspring that she tried to nourish!

  A tall, older man approached her, wearing a long, dark, hooded cloak. He held out his arms to Amenirdis. “You can’t provide what she needs.” His language sounded archaic and he didn’t speak in English. Somehow, Anastasia understood him as clear as day.

  The Pure One stuttered as she spoke. “Abum, who will take care of her? Who will watch over my precious seed?”

  ****

  Like an alarm clock, sunset signaled Anastasia to open her eyes. She sat straight up, noticing that Enlai had awaken before her. He stood near the back, eying a watercolor painting hanging on the wall. He tried to start a conversation with her but was met with silence. Not knowing how to get her to respond, he eventually walked away without saying another word. Her thoughts turned to Nathan and she left the room in search for him.

  Whoever awoke before her had opened the curtains, letting the moon’s effulgent light enter through the windows, brightening up the interior. It helped Anastasia dissect the new place she called home for the time being. As she walked down the hall toward Nathan’s small room, she heard the sound of a lock unlatching. A small door underneath the stairs opened and Alexis slithered out. Covered in dirt, she shook her hair, letting the small soiled fragments drop mercilessly to the floor.

  She smelled of ground and rotted wood. Anastasia leaned to look inside her sleeping area, but Alexis closed the door, blocking her view. For Anastasia, it was the perfect time to ask the vampire about donating just a dab of her blood to keep Nathan well. Unlike Lambert, Alexis didn’t care about Nathan’s needs. Coaxing her, instead of demanding her, into an agreement sounded easier.

  Alexis didn’t say anything. She walked around Anastasia toward the marble staircase.

  “We need to talk.”

  “What do you want?” Annoyed, Alexis placed her hand on her hip and looked at her.

  “It’s about Nathan.”

  “What about him?”

  She lowered her voice. “He needs vampire blood.”

  Alexis let out a chuckle. “You’re still on that, aren’t you?”

  She looked over her shoulder, expecting either Enlai or Nathan himself to be listening in on their conversation.

  “No, I won’t do it,” Alexis said.

  “He’s dying.”

  She pinched her nose. “Not my problem.”

  “From what I know, only a drop is needed. Would it kill you to offer just that?”

  “Lambert will kill me if I offer just that,” she rudely replied. “You Deamhan. All you do is demand and you offer nothing in return.”

  “What would you want in return?”

  She paused in thought.

  “There must be something you want,” Anastasia continued. “Everyone wants something. Even you.”

  “Yeah, there is something.” She leaned forward. “I want all of you Deamhan to disappear. That’s what I want.” She climbed the stairs. “I hope this Revelation crap ends your kind. I don’t care how. I just want you all gone.” When she reached the top, she turned to stare down at Anastasia. “Life with Lambert was much easier before you all arrived. Now his life revolves around you. Everything he’s done these past few years was to benefit Deamhan, not vampires. Ruby was right. He’s lost. Somehow you all blinded him. He doesn’t think or act like a vampire anymore.”

  “I can’t change the way he responds to us. I never asked him to go out of his way to do anything.”

  “If you needed information or help, who did you turn to?”

  Anastasia couldn’t answer.

  “You’d go to Dark Sepulcher. You invaded his place, demanding that he give you attention. You demanded that he tell you what you wanted to know. And if he didn’t, you threatened or bribed him with money.” Her fangs appeared in her raging response. “That’s what you’re doing right now. You’re at his home, asking for his help yet again. What if he weren’t here or what if he never helped you? What about what he wants? What about what I want? Have you ever thought about that?”

  “You’ve never told me what you want.”

  “You just did because you know you’ll get something out of it.” Her voice grew louder and Anastasia feared that soon the others would hear their troubled conversation. “If you and the rest of Deamhan can give Lambert back to me and disappear from our lives forever, then I’ll gladly do it. Shit, I’ll hand over a gallon of my blood if I have to.”

  Anastasia couldn’t offer anything to satisfy Alexis’ need. When the vampire realized that, she smiled.

  “Let’s say I agree to do it. All it takes is one drop to connect him to me. Do you know what that means?” Alexis didn’t give her any opportunity to respond. “Of course you don’t. You don’t know anything besides what you want. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m hungry and I’m dirty. I have to freshen up before finding myself some dinner.” She turned and walked away, disappearing from Anastasia’s view.

  Desperation, instead of hatred for how Alexis responded to her request, fueled Anastasia to find an answer. Having been pushed back to the start line, she had to think of a way to require more vampire blood for Nathan’s sake. Standing in deep thought, she didn’t notice Enlai who walked out of their room and up to her.

  “So you did give him vampire blood.”

  She turned around at the sound of his voice.

  “Hey, I’m not judging.” He held up his hands.

  She rushed past him. Feeling smothered, she opened the front door and stepped out. She saw the exterior for the first time. The land in front of her was large, encompassing a few acres. What looked like a county road was in the distance and beyond that, more land as far as her Deamhan vision could see. No scents in the nearby vicinity signaled anyone or anything around them. It was as if Lambert moved them into the middle of nowhere, far away from any danger.

  It had been a long time since she used the sky as her compass. She came to the conclusion that the city of Minneapolis was on her left. She could travel the 100-plus miles back to the city with Nathan if he still intended on going back home. But as it stood now, he wouldn’t make the travel and the strong possibility that he’d injure himself along the way moved her back to the focus of her weary thoughts. Vampire blood.

  Enlai stepped outside and stood next to her, staring at the sky above. His thoughts floated to Anastasia like a gentle breeze from a nearby lake. It was hard for her to not home in on them.

  “You were talking in your sleep. I didn’t know we could talk in our sleep.”

  She continued to ignore him.

  He reached into his pocket. “Before Lambert left, I asked him if he had any speakers I could use at his hideout.” He pulled out a small iPod. “I thought music might lighten things up a bit around here.”

  She still didn’t know exactly what he wanted or why he came along with them. Most importantly, she didn’t understand why she let him. Her visit to the orphans couldn’t have had that much impression on him.

  “Music is good for the soul. That’s what they say.”

  “Are you trying to bond with me?” she asked him. “If so, you’re wasting your time.”

  “No. Believe it or not, I was in the same situation you’re in now.”

  Her Deamhan hearing picked up on an animal half a mile away, trampling over sticks and brush. She expected it was a deer. She only knew a few animals that lived in the woods throughout Minnesota.

  “It’s a coyote,” Enlai said, answering her thoughts. “Or it could be a deer.” He also tuned in.

  “I don’t need you to tell me what it is.”

  H
e continued to fumble with his iPod. “My sire made me memorize a quote. ‘The point is not how long you live, but how nobly you live’. I didn’t understand it then, but I understand it now.” He placed the iPod back in his pocket. “Too bad he didn’t take his own advice.”

  “Here’s my advice to you. If you have something to say, say it.”

  “Good advice.” He nodded. “You remind me of my sire. He didn’t like anyone giving him advice.”

  Feeling irked, Anastasia contemplated tracking down the animal, just to get away.

  “My sire also didn’t believe in second chances, but I do. Everyone needs a second chance.”

  “At what?”

  “At life. At living. You’re trying to give Nathan a second chance by finding vampire blood. But you have to ask yourself, is that what he really wants?” He plopped on the ground with his eyes still staring straight ahead. “Like I said, I’ve experienced what you’re going through now. It was a long time ago.” He snickered quietly. “It felt like that for me, anyway. For you, it’d probably feel like yesterday.”

  “You haven’t lived long enough to know.”

  “Hear me out.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “It happened in 1946. Not sure of the month and date. I’m not good at keeping track of stuff like that. My family arrived in Hong Kong earlier that year after fleeing China. I was the oldest child so I had to go out and look for work. I found a few small jobs here and there but nothing that brought in enough. My father couldn’t provide for the family. He was injured during the Chinese Civil War. I heard through a few workers about magical medicine that could heal any wounds. I was desperate. I didn’t want to see my father die. So I looked for this medicine man and when I found him...he wasn’t a medicine man at all. He was—”

  “A vampire,” Anastasia spoke for him. Suddenly his story became interesting.

  “Well, a Dorvo vampire.” He nodded. “He was selling his blood in these little glass medicine bottles so I bought one and, that night, I came across another man hiding behind a building. He tried speaking to me but he didn’t know the language. He wasn’t Chinese. He was white and I didn’t know what he was doing there. It scared me. I thought the British had invaded or the Russians. So when I tried to leave, he attacked me.